The Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCUOA) granted the major academic programs of Arellano University, Juan Sumulong campus its Level lll accreditation status which enables the institution to be able to (1) point out its strengths and weaknesses through an informed review process (2) help them identify internal areas of planning and how to allocate resources (3) enable it to assemble innovative and modern methods of teaching and learning (4) establish its identity and help instill a sense of direction (5) to provide mechanisms and opportunities towards attaining and maintaining quality education (6) to help identify funding agencies like CHED for financial support to develop academic programs and support facilities like library and faculty development (7) to provide reliable information on the quality of education needed by employers when scouting for employment opportunities and (8) to encourage and provide linkages for intra and inter-institutional interactions.
Accreditation begins when the institution volunteers and requests to undergo the process by applying with PACUCOA which starts with an orientation of the institution regarding the accreditation visit. Through this, the institution will be informed of its degree of compliance with the basic requirements of the accreditation process and be oriented on how it will be conducted. The program concerned then proceeds with the self-survey which consists of eight (8) to ten (10) areas of evaluation. The PACUCOA team then prepares the schedule of activities for the survey visit in consultation with the Survey Executive Committee chairman. The schedule usually consists of an orientation meeting with the members of the Survey Executive Committee, dialogues with the students, alumni, and faculty representatives together with non-teaching staff, examination of exhibits, ocular visits of facilities, class observation, interviews, post accreditation conference, and exit meeting with the administrators. After this, the accrediting team verifies the self-survey report by reviewing and evaluating the exhibits, class observation, formal and informal interviews and conversations with the constituents of the school and community members, and ocular visits.
The accrediting team then comes out with its findings and prepares a report for submission to the PACUCOA secretariat which will pass it on to the PACUCOA Board of Directors for review, analysis, and evaluation to determine what accreditation status to grant the program. The PACUCOA then informs the institution of the results together with the Chairman’s report. The final decision and approval of the granting of the accreditation status and certification is made by the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP).
The College of Nursing of Arellano University Juan Sumulong campus was granted by PACUCOA its Level 3 2nd re-accreditation status, which reflects its consistency of maintaining the seal of quality and excellence of its academic program throughout the accreditation process. This achievement is meant to ensure the high level of academic preparation as required by industry for nurses through the continuous and consistent enhancement of its curriculum, faculty, facilities, and related learning experience in its hospital affiliations based on global standards and expectations. Its Level 3 2nd Re-accreditation Status as a seal of quality was validated when the University was ranked on the national level as belonging to the top 8 nursing schools in the country and the only one in the National Capital Region with 50 or more examinees in the recent Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE), last July 3-24, 2021.
Recently, the results of the National NLE held last November, 21-22, 2021, registered a passing rate of 88.57% for first-time takers for AU’s Legarda Juan Sumulong Campus, way over the national passing rate of 51.45%. A total of 31 nursing students passed the NLE as first takers out of 35 with Kate M. Alcedera landing 9th among the top 10 board topnotchers with a grade of 86.80%. Also landing in the top 18 in the same board exam were: Raquesah M. Panandigan, top 12 with 86.20%; Jeanrich M. Nedic, top 13 with 86.00%; and Nafisah Abdul Aziz, top 18 with 85%. Joanna May Laude from the ETEEAP’s batch 20 landed in the top 22 with 83.80%.
As the pandemic and the absence of face-to-face meetings has disrupted the school programs, the College of Nursing has re-engineered its flexible learning teaching pedagogies to maintain its academic standards. The Nursing Program has combined with its online classroom teaching, the use of Labster as its teaching laboratory, Objective Structured Clinical Enhancement (OSCE), the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP), and Virtual Clinical Assessment Program (VCAP), which have enhanced the cognitive as well as the psychomotor skills of the students needed in their clinical formation.
The Nursing program of Arellano University Juan Sumulong campus is qualified to receive all the benefits acquired from its former Level 1 or 2 accredited status such as the authority to revise its curriculum without CHED’s approval, full administrative deregulation, priority in the awards of grants or subsidies, or funding assistance for CHED or DEPED financial deregulation in terms of setting of tuition and other fees and charges. Maintaining and sustaining its Level 3 Reaccredited Status has also provided the Program with benefits as embodied in CHED Order No. 01, series 2005, the "authority to offer new courses allied to existing Level 3 courses without the need for prior approval, provided that the concerned CHED Regional Office, [CHEDRO] is duly informed" and the "privilege to apply for authority to offer new graduate programs, open/learning distance education, extension classes, and to participate in transnational education.
The Arellano University Juan Sumulong campus Nursing program, along with all the other campuses of Arellano University, continues to meet the additional criteria or guidelines set by FAAP, along with the progressive standards the program or university has set for itself--all for the continuous enhancement of each and every learner which is associated with the development of all campuses of Arellano University.
Alongside the reaccreditation of the Arellano University Juan Sumulong campus Nursing program, the Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Elementary Education, and Bachelor of Secondary Education programs were also assessed and have gained a Level III 2nd Reaccredited Status. Hotel and Restaurant Management, Tourism, Computer Science, and Business Administration Programs are being awarded the Level III Reaccredited Status. For the AU Jose Rizal campus in Malabon, the high school department was granted its Level II 2nd Reaccredited status, while the Elementary department received its Level III Reaccredited status.
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